


The Storm in His Eyes

by pyxy_styx



Series: Ereri Week 2015 [6]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ereri Week, Ereri Week 2015, How Do I Tag, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, Storms, Thunder and Lightning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-02 11:46:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4058827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyxy_styx/pseuds/pyxy_styx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One thing Eren did not expect was that he would have to take care of his Corporal during a thunderstorm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Storm in His Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Day 6 of Ereri, storms, has come, just one more day and I'm honestly a little sad. I find it completely canon that Levi has had a fear of thunderstorms ever since his mother died. So go read my take on it.

His eyes have always held a stormy sky within them. Whether it was a dainty drizzle where the clouds were light and thin and the sun still peaks through in some places. Or whether it was a storm in which the dark and thunderous skies lit up with the occasional lightning, the storm was always there. Just like they are right now, with the Corporal, drenched in rain, his ebony hair plastered to his alabaster skin, his uniform clinging tightly to his shivering form. His breathing is shallow and ragged, with his teeth clattering together. His eyes are light with his pupils blown wide as the lightning strikes miles in the distance, he jumps slightly, and as the thunder rolls overhead he squeezes his eyes shut. And when he opens them again they’re as dark as the stormy night sky is.

“Corporal, what’s wrong?” Eren asks, he doesn’t know whether he should be afraid that something has obviously rattled the corporal or not, though Levi is far too frazzled to notice the internal struggle going on in front of him.

“Nothing Jaeger, my watch is over, go get Bodt.”

Just as Eren was about to reply, thunder crackled across the sky, it wasn’t slow and rumbling like it had previously been, it was sharp and akin to the cracking of a whip, as well as painfully loud. Levi brought his hands up to his ears, taking an involuntary step forward and into Eren’s chest. Eren stumbled back into the cabin from the force of Levi hitting him. Once he was stable again, he brought his arms, slowly and cautiously so as not to startle the small man even more, up around Levi’s back.

“Sir.” Eren starts, but is soon cut off as another bout of thunder rumbled by and Levi is tightening his hold on the younger male until his chest hurt, a tiny almost inaudible whimper escaping the corporal. It was then that it clicked in Eren’s mind, Corporal Levi is afraid of thunder storms.

“Come on. Let’s get you dried up.” Eren despite his better judgement picked the corporal up off his feet, carrying Levi into his quarters. He settled the corporal onto his wooden desk chair so as not to drip anywhere that couldn’t be cleaned in a hurry.

“I’ll be right back okay? Don’t move.” The corporal showed no form of acknowledgement that Eren had even spoken, he stayed sitting with his arms wrapped around his torso as if to block himself from an invisible blow that was never going to come, staring unblinkingly at the wall in front of him. Eren left quickly to wake Marco, so he could get back to his disheveled corporal.

Once Marco was awake and on his feet, and Eren had quickly changed into clothesthat weren't wet, Eren exited the room that housed himself, when he was actually in bed, Jean, Marco, Connie, and Armin. He made his way back to the corporal, but stopped with his hand resting on the knob of the door. Should he disturb Levi? Would it be better just to leave him be? Eren was about to do just that when thunder rumbled again, he could faintly hear the sounds of a whimper and a chair scraping across the floor. He pushed his doubts aside, opening the door slowly. As he entered he was surprised not to be greeted by the sight of the corporal where he had left him. He closed the door behind himself, looking around the small, but open living space for the disoriented man.

He looked over the bed that was pushed against the wall with the window above it with an old chest that looked far too big for the room at the foot of the bed, a small desk strewn with papers and the aforementioned chair to the left of the bed. A tall wardrobe on the right wall adjacent to the desk. Looking over the desk Eren realized that it was wet, maybe not sopping like the corporal had been, but moist all the same.

“Corporal?” Eren quietly called into the darkness, only to be met with silence. Eren figured it would be best to just wait until the next crack of thunder to pass overhead. And wait he did, but not for very long. It was a sharp snapping sound, and underneath the sound of the thunder, he heard it, the whimper he was looking for. He followed the sound until he was standing in front of the wardrobe. He grabbed the handles and discovered that they were wet, like the desk was. Pulling on said handles he looked down upon the corporal. He had his hand pressed tightly to his head over his ears, and his face buried in his knees.

Letting out a sigh Eren squatted down so he was eye level with Levi, who only looked up long enough to see who was in here with him. Eren grabbed Levi’s arms and pulled until the shorted man had no choice but to stand. Eren led him back over to the chair and sat him down. Levi’s gaze followed Eren around as he went over to the chest to retrieve a new set of clothing. Walking back over to Levi, Eren hesitated. Should he undress Levi himself or just let Levi take care of it, he wasn’t sure if there was an invisible line that he could cross if he did the former. But Levi didn’t look like he was going to move of his own free will for some time.

With another sigh Eren went to work on the buckles secured to the muscular body sitting in front of him. Getting the cloak, boots, shirt, and even buckles were simple, but Eren hesitated at the older male’s pants. Now he really wished he could just hand this job back over to Levi, but again as he looked over him all he saw was a blank stare. Deciding it would be easier to get the corporal out of his pants if he was not sitting in them, he opted to move the corporal to the bed. Once done, he again stopped at the trousers. Taking a deep breath to calm himself and steady his nerve, he started to pull until he saw the beginning of Levi’s coarse and wiry black hair peeking over the fabric, and he paused again. He hadn’t thought of whether or not he was going to change the corporal’s undergarments, but now that he thinks about it those are probably soaking wet as well. He cursed himself for being so riled up over something as silly as pubic hair. It’s not as if he doesn’t have it, or any of the others that he’s forced to shower with back at the base in the communal showers don’t have it, but it feels almost… _wrong_ , to see the corporal. Seeing the strong man, whom he looked up to and admired, being so vulnerable was simply unsettling, and to think that this was over a thunderstorm at that. Eren understands that everyone has a weakness, an Achilles’ heel so to speak, but finding out that your superiors must also have them and can’t always hide them is something different.

Moving to grab a pair of underwear from the chest Eren once again steeled himself. He would make this quick, the longer this dragged out the more he would over think it and talk himself out of doing this. He made quick work of the pants and underwear, stopping briefly once the corporal was completely exposed to wipe away the residual moister off the pale skin presented to him.

After the corporal’s bottom half was covered in long flannel pajamas he looked significantly better. Some of the color had returned to Levi’s skin, he wasn’t shivering as much, and his eyes were closed now, instead of staring into nothing like he had previously been doing, but it didn’t look like he was asleep. Eren could see the corporal’s eyes moving under the shut lids, and he could hear just as much as see the erratic rise and fall of Levi’s chest.

It would be harder to get a shirt on the corporal if he was lying down. He almost wanted to be angry about having to do all this, but remembered that he pretty much volunteered without having to be asked. He pulled the corporal’s arms so he would sit up, and he complied, but didn’t open his eyes. Eren slipped the shirt over Levi’s arms with a bit of help from Levi himself. Eren buttoned the shirt, almost completely covering the smooth almost perfect skin of the corporal. Eren was just about done buttoning the shirt when he spotted a long scar along Levi’s shoulder, briefly wondering how he had missed it before. He reached out to touch it, and had barely brushed his fingers along it when he felt a vice like grip on his wrist. He looked up to meet the storm again.

“Don’t.” Levi commands, but with how it was barely a whisper leaving his lips it sounds far more like a plead than anything else, but as the first word the corporal has spoken in what feels like an eternity, Eren obeys the request. Only giving a slight nod in response, going back to his previous task. After Eren was satisfied with his work, he moved the corporal up to the top of the bed, tugging the covers back to settle the corporal under them, before moving them back up until the blanket was just brushing the corporal’s chin.

Eren moved to leave, however he didn’t get very far as that vice like grip was once again on his arm.

“Don’t leave just yet, please.” Levi said, he was sitting up with his head bowed. Eren let a small frown take over his features, but soon got over it. His corporal needed support right now, and who was he to deny him? So he settled onto the bed next to Levi, slowly easing Levi back into a lying position. He lifted his hand to run his long fingers through the black locks of the corporal’s hair. When Levi closed his eyes, seemingly giving Eren permission to proceed, he laid a hand on Levi’s forehead, brushing away the hair obscuring his face. Eren started humming a familiar lullaby that his mother had used to calm him when he was younger, he had long since forgotten the words, but the soothing melody was impossible to forget.

The corporals breathing had evened out faster than Eren expected though he was not one to complain. Eren went to get up, but discovered that the corporal was still clutching his forearm, even in his sleep. Eren almost wanted to be irritated, but refrained. He was tired and wanted to sleep, but he couldn’t move so he figured he would just sleep in here and hope not to get in trouble for it later.

As he laid down facing the corporal he was tense, he was never going to be able to sleep like this. He tried prying the fingers off his arm again but to no avail. He shifted onto his back and closed his eyes, figuring that if he laid there long enough in the dark he would fall asleep eventually. And he was right, between the training, the watches of the surrounding area, and having to cater to the corporal’s every whim, Eren was exhausted, and drifted off to sleep quickly.

~

Eren woke up to a pressure on his chest, looking down he saw the corporal snuggled into his torso. His head in the crook of his neck, one arm pressed in between their chests, the other wrapped around Eren’s waist, and a leg draped over his own legs. His face began to heat up as he took in the rather… _intimate_ position he was in with his corporal, sure this had always been a dream of his but not under these circumstances. He could feel the warm breath ghosting against his neck as the corporal evenly breathed in and out. All of the corporal was warm really, but Eren supposed that _anyone_ would feel warm with a body pressed against theirs.

Eren didn’t want to wake up the smaller man who was resting on him, so he opted to just wait until he woke up. He only had to wait maybe ten minutes if he had been counting right, for the corporal’s eyes to flutter open, thick eyelashes briefly cloaking the stormy eyes from his sight. Eren was unsure of how to proceed now that the corporal was awake. So he did the only thing that would be _normal_ for this situation.

“Good morning Corporal.” Eren said in a quiet voice.

“Morning Eren.” Eren was caught off guard that Levi had actually called him by his name.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Hmm, surprisingly yes. Most nights I usually only get two or three hours of sleep, or none at all during a storm.”

“Corporal can I ask you a question?” Eren asked hesitantly.

“Sure, why not, but that doesn’t mean I’ll answer.” Levi said shifting further into Eren’s arms letting out a content sigh.

“Why are you so afraid of thunderstorms?” Levi tensed and Eren instantly regretted asking, not that he could take it back now but still. They sat in silence so long that Eren thought Levi wasn’t going to answer, but then Levi spoke.

“When I was younger, maybe five or six, my mother died. Before she passed whenever there was a storm she would sing to me, but after she was gone I stayed in the room with her corpse by myself until Kenny found me, but with her gone there was no one there to comfort me. And after I was with Kenny he sure as hell wasn’t going to do anything… so I took to barricading myself in my room and crying until it passed, and as I got older the only thing that didn’t change about me was that. I never learned how to cope with storms.” The two sat in silence after the revelation for some time.

“Is that why you calmed down when I started humming?” Eren asked. Levi didn’t give a verbal response, he made a noise of assent. They continued to just lie there for another ten minutes before Levi broke the silence.

“We need to get up. We have things to do today.” Levi got up and Eren watched as he gathered supplies for his shower, Eren didn’t move until after Levi had left. He let out a breath, running a hair through his bedhead. Then he too got up to start the day.

~

As time went on, Levi going to find Eren every time there was a storm became their ritual. Though unlike the first time, it was pleasant. A storm was the first time they kissed, a storm was the first time they cried together after Eren almost died, a storm was the first time they wrapped one another in a passionate embrace. A storm was when Levi proposed after two years, and a storm was when Eren said yes with tear filled eyes. And soon storms for Levi were filled to the brim with happy and joyous memories instead of the one that haunted his childhood, and all because of a bright eyed brat that felt the need to help someone who didn’t ask for it. Now that brat was his, and he was content with that fact. But above all he supposed to himself as he watched Eren walk down the aisle in a white suit, was that he was happy.


End file.
